Uconn

FILE - In this Sept. 24, 2011, file photo, Maryland head coach Randy Edsall watches the action during the second half of an NCAA football game against Temple in College Park, Md. UConn travels to Maryland on Saturday for the Huskies' first game against their former coach, Randy Edsall. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)

COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Revenge? Overrated. Settling scores? Not as satisfying as Hollywood would have us believe.

No UConn players made any grand statements this week about wanting to get back at former coach Randy Edsall today. Some of the Huskies might have been looking forward to this particular date for that reason, but this game doesn't mean any more to them than any other, at least not at the moment.

Ultimately, the Huskies (1-1) have to play a football game today against Maryland (2-0) at Byrd Stadium. It is not this Husky or that Husky vs. Edsall. It is UConn against Maryland, a nonconference football game early in the season. It is nothing more, nothing less.

Right now.

"(Edsall) could have told us he was leaving, but it's not a problem now," defensive end Trevardo Williams said. "Most guys say he's a good guy. There's no animosity. I just want to win the game.

"If we win, it might mean something afterward, but not too much. It's just a really important game for our season because we're trying to get to a bowl game. Every game is an important game."

It would be one thing if the Huskies were so much better than the Terrapins. Then maybe — and it's a big maybe — the Huskies could put a little more emotion into their reunion with Edsall. That is obviously not the case.

UConn has far bigger issues than the coach standing on the opposite sideline. It doesn't have much to worry about defensively beyond playing well again, but offensively the Huskies have a lot of work to do. The running game has gone virtually nowhere, and while there has been some production in the passing game, first-year quarterback Chandler Whitmer hasn't always made the best decisions.

At some point, the Huskies have to find an offense that isn't offensive. The big guys in front of Whitmer had an extremely difficult time time of things last week against North Carolina State and the Huskies haven't been able to spring running back Lyle McCombs.

There are no plans to change anything beyond being better offensively.

"We don't need more plays. We have a lot of plays," UConn coach Paul Pasqualoni said. "The staff is working very hard on the game plan to try to put us in the best situation, formation, play, protections, to come up with production.

"You have to have 11 guys functioning. We weren't consistent at all last week, but we're going to do what

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we do. We're not just going to change things."

Pasqualoni wasn't disappointed exclusively with the plays UConn ran last week. His disappointment was more pointed toward the Huskies derailing themselves on the majority of their drives. Only once were the Huskies able to get more than two first downs on a drive against N.C. State.

The Maryland defense won't prove any easier than the Wolfpack's. The Terrapins are young but they are allowing just 229.5 yards per game, a mere 78 on the ground. Finding some consistency today would bode well for the UConn offense.

"It's just consistency," Whitmer said. "There's not one thing you can put your finger on and say, this has been the problem. We have to continue to work on bringing everything together. There have been glimpses and then we shoot ourselves in the foot. Those are drive killers.

"It's a matter of staying consistent and staying in control."

Control of emotion is just as important as anything today. The Huskies have said all the right things during the week, but there's always the chance that things could chance once they get on the field and see their former coach.

That's one of the little battles the Huskies have to fight.

"Coach Pasqualoni taught me that having control and a stable mind is one of the best things to have when you're confronted by adversity," Williams said. "As a senior, I have to keep myself composed so the other guys can see someone who has control of the situation."

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